Markus Wine Co. Tasting at Lodi Wine & Visitor at Wine & Roses, Lodi
Primarily white wines – very interesting wines; has received recent recognition Tour Opening Reception Cellar Room & Patio at Wine & Roses, Lodi Welcome reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres Also formal tasting of the Lodi Native Six Pack – Zinfandels made from local grapes to a specific set.
The Tour kick-off was really fun - we saw so many old friends and made several new ones!
The tastings exceeded even my expectations!
The Markus whites were truly remarkable and the reds interesting. Our thanks to Michael - Markus’ cellar master - and Jeremy - who runs the Lodi Wine & Visitor Center - for a memorable tasting.
Starting on that high note, we moved on to tasting six Zinfandels of the Lodi Native Project. We were exceptionally fortunate to have this tasting led by Brad Alderson, who ran Mondavi’s Woodbridge operation for 35+ years, and who was involved in the creation of the Lodi AVA and part of the group who put the Lodi Native project together.
This project.focuses on Lodi Zinfandel from primarily old vine vineyards made to a specific set of rules. A wonderul cooperative project.
@chipgreen No choice. The bus driver had to introduce himself and inform us about various new laws that have gone into effect in California. Plus, this hotel is MASSIVE! We actually drove to dinner on the grounds yesterday!
Woodbridge Winery - Only megawinery we’ll visit – they also make some interesting small production wines we’ll taste.
We had a great tour of their huge facility. They use golf carts and bicycles to get around. Major bottling lines! They can bottle a whole bunch of cases very quickly.
After the tour, we got down to tasting their small lot wines (Winemaker’s Selection and Section 29) outside in a nice patio area.
We started off with their Winemaker’s Selections:
2016 Vermentino
2016 Sauvignon Blanc
2016 Pinot Noir Clarksburg
Then 2 of their Section 29 wines:
2016 Cabernet Sauvignon
2015 Section 29 Red Blend (PV/CS/Merlot/Malbec/CF)
We then went inside to taste any of their other Winemaker’s Selection and Section 29 wines including:
2017 Malvasia Bianca
2016 Muscat Hamburg (Black Muscat)
2016 Barbera
2015 Petite Sirah
They also had a 2015 Zin Port and a 2009
Portacinco (all 5 port varietals).
Next Winery: Acquiesce Winery - Tiny boutique winery: only white wines – very special wines – primarily Rhone varietals
Very nice winery with some nice food pairings. All wines tasted were 2017, they bottle in March and are usually sold out by Thanksgiving. Many of her grapes are clones that Tablas Creek brought in.
Tasted:
Picpoul Blanc
Grenache Blanc
Clairette Blanche (usually blended, esp. in CdP Whites)
Viognier
Grenache Rose
Bourboulenc (Wine Club only) {Thought I had a new varietal for Double Century, but I already had it!}
Over half of us joined their wine club, I would need to drop one of the many I’m already in! But looking forward to trying the bottles I bought with my bottles from Tablas Creek WC.
Next Winery: Heritage Oak Winery – Another boutique, very nice wines: Strength is reds – Zin and Rhone/Spanish/Italian
Another nice patio tasting:
2017 Sauvignon Blanc
2017 Barbera Rose
2015 Carnival Red Blend (40% Mouvedre, 20% each of Grenache, Syrah, & Cinsault)
2015 Block 14 Zin
2014 Tempranillo
2015 Petite Syrah
2014 Charbono
We then had lunch, and after we could taste additional wines: Pinot Gris, Grenache Rose, Vino Tinto (Zin, Syrah, & PS), Portuguese Blend (4 of the Port grapes), Cab/Syrah Blend, Zinhead (75% Zin, 25% PS), 2014 7 Starr Syrah, and their Solera.
Another great winery.
Next winery: Macchia - Known primarily for big Zinfandels
Interesting winery, bold and outgoing, but some thought a throwback to older style tasting rooms. Great dogs though.
Inside tasting of:
2017 Rose (Ridiculous) mostly Grenache
2017 White Blend (Ludicrous) 2 spanish Varietals they wouldn’t tell us!
2016 Nebbiolo (Vivacious)
2016 Old Vine Zin (Mischievous)
2016 Zin (Sumptuous)
2016 PS (Dubious)
2016 Graciano
Last winery of the day: Lange Twins Winery - Medium sized winery – good local whites, very nice reds – building reputation
Inside their wine cave with barrels around us. Brad Lange gave us a talk while we tasted four wines tasted there:
Then in their tasting room (closed to public at 5pm), we got an additonal tasting of their Centennial Zin.
Sadly, they didn’t have anything else open (Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Moscato, Dessert Wine, or PS). Also traumatizing to me was that their PS is only available to their Wine Club! NOOOOOOOOOO!
Then back to Wine & Roses to cleanup and meet for dinner in their Cellar Room (for meetings). However, we kept wondering who was getting married there, since they kept repeating the bridal march music!
Let’s just say my plan to not buy a lot more wine this tour was moot by Woodbridge (1st stop). RPM picked some good ones! Although I think I barely beat Ron’s total.
You have to upload it to Imgur or Instagram, IIRC. I think I’ve used Imgur in the past. After uploading to it, you copy the link, and use the link symbol (at the bottom menu bar) here to paste it in.
@MarkDaSpark Thanks, Mark. The strange part is that I’m not seeing all kinds of emoji options or any others for any kind of formatting. Could that be because I’m on my phone?
McCay Cellars - Boutique, very fine Zinfandels and reds
OMG … Swoon. So many good wines. We tasted at least 16 or more wines. They had moved their tasting room from where RPM had tasted them in Feb/Mar to a nicer location, and they opened up early for us. Simply amazing wines. Simply put, I ended up joining their wine club.
Wines tasted:
2016 Grenache Blanc
2016 Chenin Blanc
2016 Viognier
2017 Sauvignon Blanc
2017 Rose
2015 Cinsault (133 year old vines) Bechthold Vineyard
2013 Carignane (1906 planted vines)
2014 Grenache Abba Vineyard (East side)
2014 Grenache Manassero Vineyard (West side)
2013 Faith Zinfandel Lot 13 Estate Vineyard
Barrel Tasting (2015) Faith Zinfandel Lot 13 Estate
2015 Native Project Zinfandel (successor to Monday night)
And we might have tasted their 2013 Estate PS and 2012 Paisley (PS/Zin) as well. Because I ended up with the Paisley too!
Oak Farm Vineyards - Beautiful property - modern winery – the face of Lodi future
Really nice new facility. Have a barn for events that can hold almost 500 people. Unfortunately, they weren’t prepared for us, someone had lost our time, so after a delay, we went in to taste. After tasting, we took a tour of the property, thru their Cabernet section, thru the barn, then their facility and barrel room.
Tasted:
2016 Cortese (76% Cortese and 24% Falanghina) Yippee! New varietals!
2017 Albarino
2016 Indigenous Zinfandel
2016 Corset (Grenache/Alicante Bouschet/Zin)
2016 Barbera
2014 Cabernet Sauvignon
2015 Petit Verdot
Michael David Winery - Medium growing towards large winery – this is their facility at a lovely 1930s estate. Wines in big Lodi style, popular. Has been on woot.
Second mis-step of the day. We thought we were tasting at their new Bare Ranch facility, but actually at main tasting room. Big bold wines, with high alcohol that taste that way. We also found out that the 7 Deadly Zins was named for the 7 different vineyards that provided the grapes for it.
Tasted:
2017 Sauvignon Blanc
2016 Ancient Vine Cinsault (132 year old vines)
2015 Freakshow Cabernet
2015 Earthquake PS
2015 Lust Zin (Single Vineyard)
2015 Inkblot Cab Franc (Bonus - also Single Vineyard)
Klinker Brick Winery - Boutique – mostly good, big reds, some whites
Another friendly winery, giving us some additional pours.
Tasting:
2017 Albarino (Better than OFV to me)
2017 Bricks & Roses (GSM with Carignane Rose) Very nice, and IIRC, one of RPM’s favorites.
2015 Old Vine Zin (16 different vineyards averaging 86 years)
2015 Old Ghost Old Vine Zin
2014 Farrah Syrah
2014 Cabernet
2015 Dolcetto (Additional pour)
2015 Marisa Vineyard Old Vine Zin (Additional pour)
2015 PS
Their wines were high alcohol as well, but they didn’t taste like it. Very good wines.
Harney Lane Winery - Boutique + a good example of Lodi grape farmers turned winery
Yet another excellent stop. Tasted their Albarino and Dry Rose before going into their facility for an interesting talk and barrel tasting of their next Chardonnay.
Tasting:
2017 Albarino (best of the day)
2017 Dry Rose (Zin/Temranillo/PS)
Barrel tasting of their 2017 Chardonnay (Yummy)
2014 Zinfandel
2015 Old Vine Zin, Lizzy James (So good!)
2015 Tempranillo
2015 PS
NV Lizzy James Old Vine Zin Dessert Wine (don’t tell molarchae that klezman didn’t buy any!)
All in all, another great day for tasting, but not so good for the CC!
And if others on the tour notice any errors on my part, please correct them!
On the bus headed back from dinner at Scott Harvey’s new Amador winery. Delicious wine, great people, great food, and fun had by all. The new Angel Eis is delicious!
Turley Wine Cellars Winery - with big reputation for big Zins and other red wines
Son of a … so much for my plan to NOT buy a case at the first stop! So many excellent wines.
Tasting:
2017 Bechthold Cinsault (1886 vines) so good!
2016 Rinaldi Zinfandel (90% Zin, rest is field blend)
2015 Judge Bell Zin
2016 “Buck” Cobb Zin
2015 Fredericks Zin (Sonoma Valley)
2016 Cederville Zin (El Dorado)
2016 Casa Nuestra Red blend (Refosco, Napa Gamay, Negrette, Chenin Blanc)
2016 Estate PS (Napa)
Many library wines were purchased by Tour-ists as well!
Amador Cellars Family - boutique Mediterranean wines: Italian Spanish Rhone varietal
Another great stop with great wines. Winemaker alternates wines available in the tasting room throughout the year. They are expanding their facility with a new barrel room/lab/office. Oscar the golden retriever was very friendly!
They like to have more age on their wines, thus the seemingly older vintages that are actually current for them.
Vino Noceto Winery - A woot favorite known for fine Italian varietals, fine Zinfandel, other wines
Soon to be a Casemates favorite! Yes, you read that correctly. A new Casemates offer from Vino Noceto will be coming soon to an Internet screen close to you!
After a short talk with Lindy on their Pinot Grigio, we took a walk in the vineyard with owner Jim. Tasting some of their Sangiovese on the way, along with 2 barrel tastings. We then had lunch, with their slushy moscato for some, followed by more yummy wine!
Tasting:
2017 Pinot Grigio
2014 Sangiovese Originale
2011 AX-1 Sangiovese
2017 Barrel Tasting of Sangiovese Originale
2017 Barrel Tasting of OGP Zinfandel
2013 OGP Zinfandel (Original GrandPere vineyard, the vineyard used by Scott Harvey and others, owned by Scott’s ex-wife)
NV Rosso Tuscan Red Blend (40% Sangiovese, 30% Barbera, 20% Zinfandel, 9% Aglianico, and .5% each of Petite Syrah and Alicante Bouschet)
2011 Misto Sangiovese (Library wine)
2012 Dos Oakies Sangiovese (Library wine)
We then went into their tasting room for more wines.
Vino Noceto Casemates Deal:
1 bottle each:
2015 Sangiovese Originale
2015 Riserva Sangiovese
2011 AX-1 Sangiovese
2013 OGP Zinfandel
and 2 bottles of the NV Rosso Blend.
So 6 total bottles, or double it for a case.
I’m not sure any of us Tour-ists can wait til then!!!
Terre Rouge & Easton Wines - Boutique, very nice wines from Rhone varietals, Zinfandel
Scott Harvey Winery – What can I say? – It’s Scott Harvey! Woot and Casemates favorite from all prior Tours – Scot told us he plans a blending experience for InZinerator
Starting us off with his Blanc de blancs sparkling wine, we then went in for blending. We got to taste the 4 available grapes (Zin, Syrah, Barbera, & Forte), and our sheet listed the current blending amounts for an InZin, along with the percentages for converting those into ones for 25ml and 50ml sizes. He then asked us to use the 50ml ones and create a blend. He and his assistant winemaker would judge which one would win a magnum of InZinerator. @mwfielder’s wife was the winner!
We then went into the tasting room for addditional wines. Afterwards, we went back into the barrel room for a fantastic dinner, with many of Scott’s wines. Someone even brought an aged Banyuls (RJQ?)
Afterwards, we all went out to enjoy the beautiful sunset.
Tasting:
NV Blanc de Blancs
2017 Sauvigon Blanc (Wow!)
2015 Vineyard 1869 Zinfandel (aka the OGP for others)
2015 J&S Reserve Barbera (White label)
2014 J&S Reserve Syrah
2013 Jana Cathedral Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (Sadly, Scott informed us that this is one of the vineyards that burned last year, just after they got the fruit in)
@MarkDaSpark That Vino Noceto casemates pack sounds great. Though thought I was going to be able to let my mom know about it for ordering a case for herself until I looked up the wines and saw the normal pricing on the AX-1 as that would likely bring the overall price per bottle to higher than she likes to spend on wine. Maybe I can get her to buy the case for herself and then I just buy the AX-1 from her…that may work.
@HitAnyKey42
Yes, you may want to do that. Also, it’s a fantastic deal at the CM case price. We will be in for a case, even after the expenses on the Tour.
I think the NV Rosso helps keep the overall costs significantly down.
1994 Wellington Vineyards Zinfandel Casa Santinamaria Vineyards Sonoma Valley from a 3L
And a whole lotta other stuff at the farewell supper.
Someone will come up with the list…
@rjquillin
We brought and opened:
2003 Chateau Musar
2011 Iron Horse Unoaked Chardonnay
2014 Patient Cottat Sauvignon Blanc Le Grand Caillou (Loire) - a fantastic deal at LA Wine Company when they have it
Also tasted:
2014 Twisted Oak Ol’ Chumbucket
2008 WineSmith Pinot Noir
2015 WineSmith St. Laurent
2016 Anne Amie Muller-Thurgau Cuvee A
2015 Block Wines Semillon, Tauro Block, Boushey Vineyard
2014 Heritage Oak Charbono
2013 Charles Smith Viognier, Lawrence Vineyard
Okay, it’s late, and I’m tired. Day 4 report will have to wait til Sunday or so … Lot’s of great wine today and at tonight’s dinner. Great end to a great week.
Thanks to RJQ for coordinating, RPM for his information and knowledge, and to Brad Alderson. Brad for his knowledge and contacts in the Lodi/Amador area, assisting RPM and RJQ with selecting where we would go, and to Brad and Sandi Alderson for tonight’s wonderful dinner and end to a wonderful tour.
And thanks to WineDavid49 for everything he does for us, including schlepping our wines! But more importantly, because he married WineFarm!
@texashaze and I had an absolute blast. It was wonderful meeting you all, even though I felt like I knew you from the boards. Sorry we missed @Ublink , but I hope we can connect soon in the metroplex. We learned a ton, bought a ton, but the best thing we are taking back are the experiences with the new friends we made! From the bottom of our hearts of a couple of newbies, thank you all!
Before we pack up the laptop, Lauren and I wanted to say thanks to everyone for welcoming us and making this a trip to remember. Special thanks of course to @rpm, @rjquillin, and @Winedavid49 for their generosity in the planning, education, logistics, and shipping (!) departments. Great experiences at nearly all the wineries and tasting rooms we went to (with our standouts being Acquiesce [we love Rhones!], Cooper, and of course the seemingly infinite number of wines poured at McCay).
Lots of good wine (we’ve got notes on 160 or so wines we tasted, which doesn’t include the many terrific wines that were available with our dinners!), wonderful company throughout, and an education in what Lodi and Amador produce and can produce that really was eye opening.
Hope to see you all again at some point, and if any of you find yourselves down in the San Diego area, consider this an open invitation to drop by and share a few bites and a few bottles. Cheers!
Well Cesare and I just got home and I am already missing the vines, the views and of course all of you! It was great meeting and getting to know the newbies as well as catching up with those we now call friends going on 10+ years. Thank you for the amazing job by @rpm and @rjquillin with working out all the planning and logistics to ensure we all had a wonderful time (and @joatmon for keeping those initial ‘on the bus’ lists in order). Special thanks to @Winedavid49 and @winefarm, you are far too generous to us and hope getting all those boxes back to Sonoma wasn’t too much of a nightmare. Meeting Brad & Sandi was truly a highlight of the trip for me; hearing stories and personal insights about Lodi from Brad was a real treat.
When these trips come up it is never a question as to if we’ll go, it’s all about when is it?! We know what a special experience it is and how lucky we are to be a part of it and we are extremely grateful. Until next time…
A pleasure to see you all and meet the new Tourists! All are always welcome at our place in West Los Angeles.
Thank you again to @rpm and @rjquillin for all the hard work of organising and keeping us all in check. To Brad and Sandi for hosting our farewell dinner and for setting up much of what we did in Lodi. And of course to @WineDavid49 for everything you do on and off the tour.
I was in Sam’s Club today, and looked at their wines for a lark, due to something we learned from Brad on the tour. That there’s a lot of Lodi wine going to Napa.
It was very interesting to see many that just had California for the appellation, and nothing else … Coppola, Joel Gott, Newman’s Own. Benziger had Sonoma on it!
After a nice introduction by one of the founders daughter (all 5 have positions of responsibility in the winery), Jeri Cooper Swift, we took a tour of the vineyards. Growers since 1979, they eventually started making their own wines (2004?).
They have vines from a “signature clone” of Zinfandel, selected from the vineyard of St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Sonoma County (Rockpile AVA). The grapes from these vines taste like they are from Sonoma grapes, not from Lodi. They are watching to see if they eventually become more Lodi style grapes or continue to stay Sonima style.
They were sold out of their 2015 Barbera, but they called the local Raley’s (grocery store) where they knew some were left. They reserved both remaining cases, which hadn’t been put out, for us. Which we did indeed split all between us (making sure everyone got one if they wanted).
I thought long and hard about joining their wine club. Very nice people and wines. But decided to make sure I visit again, possibly every year or sooner!
Tasting:
2017 Roundpen Rosè
2017 Sauvignon Blanc
2017 Viognier
2014 Anniversary red blend (GSM)
2015 St. Peter’s Church Zinfandel (clone from Rockpile)
2015 Carignane
2014 SangioBello (Brunello-clone Sangiovese)
2015 Primativo (opened day before, bonus pour)
2015 Dicembre (dessert wine, bonus pour)
2015 Barbera (I think we got a taste, I know we all bought a bottle. See above.)
Bella Grace Winery Boutique – very nice whites and reds -Rhone; Italian varietals, Zinfandel
Greeted by Steve Havill, son of the founders and their Wine Club (& Marketing?) Manager, we had a taste of their Vermentino before going into their wine cave. Blasting it out took a while! Very nice wines, and Steve bought us 2 of their wines for lunch at our restaurant (they had both Cooper and Bella Grace wines). We also saw him later at our afternoon Wines on 49 walk. They named their winery after his grandmothers (Bella had 12 kids, and Grace had 1), they have very good wines.
After the tasting, we could go in and taste anything in their normal tasting list we missed. While the Mourvedre was one, their Rosé Spumante was another. They had a case offer (30%) off on their Estate Zin (IIRC), and several of us combined to get 15% (1/2 case) or 25% (case) offers.
Wine on 49 – Passport to 12 tasting rooms – Sutter Creek, CA - Charming Gold Rush Town – Tourists are free to pick and choose among a dozen tasting rooms!
Needless to say, several of us were wined out (I know, hard to believe, after 4 days of Swish & Spit, right? ) and decided to skip the Passport, although many did get the Passport.
@Mother and I walked into Scott’s tasting room there (which was also on the Passport, but I just celebrated 10 years in his WC). Sadly, I had to inform Sarine (she was helping Scott last evening, before our dinner there) that our group would not be here all at once, since she had 25 or more glasses out for us. So while sad, she appreciated not having us all at once! After pours of Angel Eis (which I had missed the previous night!), I bought 2, along with other goodies. The @merbill group showed up, and we discussed ice cream emporiums (Sutter Creek has two!).
While meandering the town, who should show up but Scott! Who then proceeded to give Mother & I a quick tour in his car. We then got back in time to enjoy some Ice Cream (huckleberry for me!) while waiting for our bus to take us back to Wine & Roses to freshen up for a fabulous dinner at Brad & Sandi’s.
It actually was nice to be able to choose to walk around Sutter Creek, but be warned, some business close early (3:30, really?)!
So since I didn’t taste any of the other wineries (Scott from night before and Bella Grace that morning) on the Passport, someone else gets the privilege to discuss them.
Wine on 49 wineries:
Scott Harvey Wines
Bella Grace Vineyards
1850 Wine Cellars
Baiocchi Wines
Feist Wines
Le Mulet Rouge
Leoni Farms
Matthew Gibson Winery
Miller Wine Works
Sera Fina 2
Uphill Vineyards
Yorba Wines
= on tour
Whew!
Also, the italicized comments for each winery are from the PDF itinerary RJQ & RPM sent us.
@MarkDaSpark
You da man! Can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed reading your well crafted notes. Probably not as much as you enjoyed sampling those well crafted wines, but still…
1850 - Grapes from El Dorado county, not Amador. Meh, nothing special. We bought our passes here, and I felt I should try a couple wines just to be sociable.
Baiocchi - Again, not all grapes from Amador, and I felt they were a bit over priced for what they had. Maybe it was an attitude thing in the tasting room? Again, a Meh.
Yorba Wines - Very nice wines. Winemaker is primarily a long time grower, making wines on the side. She is well respected in the community and has mentored some of the other up and coming women winemakers in the area. I remember @LindyatNoceto mentioning Yorba at the dinner the night before. Bought several bottles here, in a mixed case deal with @merbill
Michael Gibson, I didn’t get a chance, but several tourists did and they said it was good.
I didn’t get a chance to hit anymore, as I was a bit rushed at this point, having misplaced my phone and running back to the places I’d been before looking for it. Luckily, it was left on the bus and I found it when we got back on.
@MarkDaSpark@WkdPanda I agree that Yorba was a standout in Sutter Creek. The owner/winemaker was there when we tasted; she was very knowledgeable, very engaging, and made good wines. Definitely worth a look for those who visit Sutter Creek (as, of course, are the TRs for the wineries we visited at ‘home’).
Julia, Suzy, Jim, and I wanted to share a huge, sincere thank you to all of you for your visit. @rjquillin and @rpm did a fantastic job coordinating, and meeting so many amazing wine lovers made us want to do even more Casemates deals! (Note of thanks to @winedavid49 for being so great to work with on this weekend’s deal.)
Your enthusiasm for wine is infectious, and people like you all are the reason that we love working in the wine business. Let me know if any of you are headed back to the Amador area. Our spare bedroom is always available for any of you, and I know that my dad’s cellar is begging to be raided by people who appreciate great wines!
@MarkDaSpark it’s on August 25th! There will be mystery cases + some great deals on magnums + probably some steep discounts on a couple whites by the case!
I’ll be busy during the day and the night before, but we could have an informal barbecue/dinner and open some great wines on that Saturday night!
Was adding a new Sangria recipe to the old thread, and ran across this! Since it was our first stop, thought I’d repost it here.
Not just for Summer!
Woodbridge Winter White Cranberry Sangria
8-10 servings
Ingredients:
1 bottle Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi Chardonnay
2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
1 cup grapefruit juice
1 cup white cranberry juice
1 grapefruit, sliced very thinly
1 orange, sliced very thinly
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 cup club soda
Directions: Add the bottle of Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi Chardonnay and all other ingredients except club soda to a large pitcher or punch bowl and stir to dissolve the sugar.
When ready to serve, fill cups with ice cubes and a couple of pieces of fruit. Pour sangria over the ice, leaving ½” of space at the top.
Pour club soda over the sangria and stir to combine.
@klezman@mwfielder Just ordered an additional case; in addition to tour purchases and the (case enhanced) club release. @rpm Damn, this was a find.
If only their shipping was a bit more reasonable.
$50 for a case to SoCal is a bit steep in my book.
@klezman@mwfielder@rjquillin
I recently had another half dozen bottles sent to our place in Florida. Tour wine hadn’t arrived yet, but we got our first club shipment last week. I do wish they hadn’t been out of so many wines, but good for Sue she sells out every year! The shipping cost bites!
She ships using a fulfillment company, Elite Wine Shipping, in Clements.
Sent them a GSO shipper label, on my account for the case.
They really kicked and whined about it…
Estimate is ~$35 all-in with fuel surcharges and other fees. Arriving today.
@klezman@mwfielder@rpm Sue was at the SD Wine & Food event I attended with an office mate. Acquiesce seems a big hit down here.
Post tour and club case purchases/deliveries, additional case purchases #2 and #3 shipping out Monday for a total of 4.5 now. That’s a lot of winter white.
Markus Wine Co. Tasting at Lodi Wine & Visitor at Wine & Roses, Lodi
Primarily white wines – very interesting wines; has received recent recognition Tour Opening Reception Cellar Room & Patio at Wine & Roses, Lodi Welcome reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres Also formal tasting of the Lodi Native Six Pack – Zinfandels made from local grapes to a specific set.
Wines tasted:
2016 Insieme (95% Torrontes, 5% Traminette)
2016 Nativo (69% Kerner, 21% Reisling, 10% Baccus)
2016 Nimmo (64% Kerner, 16% Reisling, 5% Baccus, 15% Gewürztraminer)
2017 Zeal (Rosé) (75% Syrah, 25% Carignane)
2015 Domo (75% Carignane, 15% PS, 10% Syrah clone 470)
2015 Blue (90% Zin, 5% PV, 5% PS)
2015 Zeitlos (76% Syrah clone 877, 12% Carignane, 8% PS)
@MarkDaSpark The Kerner and the Baccus were added to my Century Club list. Getting close to 200 now.
NICE!
Lodi Native Six Pack – Zinfandels
100% Zin from single contiguous vineyard. All 2014.
The Tour kick-off was really fun - we saw so many old friends and made several new ones!
The tastings exceeded even my expectations!
The Markus whites were truly remarkable and the reds interesting. Our thanks to Michael - Markus’ cellar master - and Jeremy - who runs the Lodi Wine & Visitor Center - for a memorable tasting.
Starting on that high note, we moved on to tasting six Zinfandels of the Lodi Native Project. We were exceptionally fortunate to have this tasting led by Brad Alderson, who ran Mondavi’s Woodbridge operation for 35+ years, and who was involved in the creation of the Lodi AVA and part of the group who put the Lodi Native project together.
This project.focuses on Lodi Zinfandel from primarily old vine vineyards made to a specific set of rules. A wonderul cooperative project.
Sadly, it seems I have a herd of dancing elephants in the room above me.
Pulling out of the hotel driveway at 8:52! We’re off!
@bahwm 8:52? Slackers!
@chipgreen No choice. The bus driver had to introduce himself and inform us about various new laws that have gone into effect in California. Plus, this hotel is MASSIVE! We actually drove to dinner on the grounds yesterday!
@bahwm Hope the first day was a blast, can’t wait for more deets!
@bahwm @chipgreen We actually ran ~ahead of schedule~!
Good day, expensive; I guess that makes for a good day. Limited it to only 27 bottles!
@chipgreen @rjquillin That worked well getting back to the hotel a bit earlier with a chance to freshen up a bit before dinner. Only 27 bottles?
Day 1:
Woodbridge Winery - Only megawinery we’ll visit – they also make some interesting small production wines we’ll taste.
We had a great tour of their huge facility. They use golf carts and bicycles to get around. Major bottling lines! They can bottle a whole bunch of cases very quickly.
After the tour, we got down to tasting their small lot wines (Winemaker’s Selection and Section 29) outside in a nice patio area.
We started off with their Winemaker’s Selections:
Then 2 of their Section 29 wines:
We then went inside to taste any of their other Winemaker’s Selection and Section 29 wines including:
They also had a 2015 Zin Port and a 2009
Portacinco (all 5 port varietals).
Next Winery: Acquiesce Winery - Tiny boutique winery: only white wines – very special wines – primarily Rhone varietals
Very nice winery with some nice food pairings. All wines tasted were 2017, they bottle in March and are usually sold out by Thanksgiving. Many of her grapes are clones that Tablas Creek brought in.
Tasted:
Over half of us joined their wine club, I would need to drop one of the many I’m already in! But looking forward to trying the bottles I bought with my bottles from Tablas Creek WC.
Next Winery: Heritage Oak Winery – Another boutique, very nice wines: Strength is reds – Zin and Rhone/Spanish/Italian
Another nice patio tasting:
We then had lunch, and after we could taste additional wines: Pinot Gris, Grenache Rose, Vino Tinto (Zin, Syrah, & PS), Portuguese Blend (4 of the Port grapes), Cab/Syrah Blend, Zinhead (75% Zin, 25% PS), 2014 7 Starr Syrah, and their Solera.
Another great winery.
Next winery: Macchia - Known primarily for big Zinfandels
Interesting winery, bold and outgoing, but some thought a throwback to older style tasting rooms. Great dogs though.
Inside tasting of:
Last winery of the day: Lange Twins Winery -
Medium sized winery – good local whites, very nice reds – building reputation
Inside their wine cave with barrels around us. Brad Lange gave us a talk while we tasted four wines tasted there:
Then in their tasting room (closed to public at 5pm), we got an additonal tasting of their Centennial Zin.
Sadly, they didn’t have anything else open (Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Moscato, Dessert Wine, or PS). Also traumatizing to me was that their PS is only available to their Wine Club! NOOOOOOOOOO!
Then back to Wine & Roses to cleanup and meet for dinner in their Cellar Room (for meetings). However, we kept wondering who was getting married there, since they kept repeating the bridal march music!
Let’s just say my plan to not buy a lot more wine this tour was moot by Woodbridge (1st stop). RPM picked some good ones! Although I think I barely beat Ron’s total.
I suspect for any future 4 day Amador/Lodi groups, we can drop the 5 wineries to 4 a day.
I took a video of the bottling operation at Woodbridge, but I’m not seeing a way to post it.
@bahwm
You have to upload it to Imgur or Instagram, IIRC. I think I’ve used Imgur in the past. After uploading to it, you copy the link, and use the link symbol (at the bottom menu bar) here to paste it in.
@MarkDaSpark Thanks, Mark. The strange part is that I’m not seeing all kinds of emoji options or any others for any kind of formatting. Could that be because I’m on my phone?
@bahwm
Yes. But if you turn your phone sideways, those icons will show up! Silly programmers!
I think you can use the : to show emoji options, and by typing the first part, it will narrow down the emoji.
: and W will show emojis that begin with W. Use WI, and you will see those that start with WI.
Note to self: Stay in the bus for 1st stop Thur/Fri. Less chance of buying a case each day.
@MarkDaSpark How did that work out for you today at Turley?
McKay Cellars was epic. 18 wines or so, all delicious. Hope we see them here eventually.
@klezman @Winedavid49
Seconded!
Tuesday’s night dinner; sorry for the quality. Blame the hotel WiFi! Dinner time lapse
@mwfielder
I have indigestion from watching y’all eat so quickly!
Glad to see everyone is having a great time!
@mwfielder What’s great is that with all that sprinting around, nobody will gain an ounce! (Or for rjq, 28 grams. And for klez, 28 grammes.)
@mwfielder Just noticed this and it’s awesome, thanks!
Day 2:
McCay Cellars - Boutique, very fine Zinfandels and reds
OMG … Swoon. So many good wines. We tasted at least 16 or more wines. They had moved their tasting room from where RPM had tasted them in Feb/Mar to a nicer location, and they opened up early for us. Simply amazing wines. Simply put, I ended up joining their wine club.
Wines tasted:
And we might have tasted their 2013 Estate PS and 2012 Paisley (PS/Zin) as well. Because I ended up with the Paisley too!
Oak Farm Vineyards - Beautiful property - modern winery – the face of Lodi future
Really nice new facility. Have a barn for events that can hold almost 500 people. Unfortunately, they weren’t prepared for us, someone had lost our time, so after a delay, we went in to taste. After tasting, we took a tour of the property, thru their Cabernet section, thru the barn, then their facility and barrel room.
Tasted:
Michael David Winery - Medium growing towards large winery – this is their facility at a lovely 1930s estate. Wines in big Lodi style, popular. Has been on woot.
Second mis-step of the day. We thought we were tasting at their new Bare Ranch facility, but actually at main tasting room. Big bold wines, with high alcohol that taste that way. We also found out that the 7 Deadly Zins was named for the 7 different vineyards that provided the grapes for it.
Tasted:
Klinker Brick Winery - Boutique – mostly good, big reds, some whites
Another friendly winery, giving us some additional pours.
Tasting:
Their wines were high alcohol as well, but they didn’t taste like it. Very good wines.
Harney Lane Winery - Boutique + a good example of Lodi grape farmers turned winery
Yet another excellent stop. Tasted their Albarino and Dry Rose before going into their facility for an interesting talk and barrel tasting of their next Chardonnay.
Tasting:
All in all, another great day for tasting, but not so good for the CC!
And if others on the tour notice any errors on my part, please correct them!
@MarkDaSpark pretty sure its Bear Ranch, not “bare”. McCay was great.
@merrybill
That was how it was in the PDF. Yell at Ron/RPM.
Bare Ranch is correct
We are so excited to see you guys at Bella Grace tomorrow. Reading these notes makes me want to join you next time! - Steve Havill
@bgvineyards Today is the day Steve.
Bus departing in ~30 minutes.
On the bus headed back from dinner at Scott Harvey’s new Amador winery. Delicious wine, great people, great food, and fun had by all. The new Angel Eis is delicious!
Day 3 (Amador):
Turley Wine Cellars Winery - with big reputation for big Zins and other red wines
Son of a … so much for my plan to NOT buy a case at the first stop! So many excellent wines.
Tasting:
Many library wines were purchased by Tour-ists as well!
Amador Cellars Family - boutique Mediterranean wines: Italian Spanish Rhone varietal
Another great stop with great wines. Winemaker alternates wines available in the tasting room throughout the year. They are expanding their facility with a new barrel room/lab/office. Oscar the golden retriever was very friendly!
Tasting:
They like to have more age on their wines, thus the seemingly older vintages that are actually current for them.
Vino Noceto Winery - A woot favorite known for fine Italian varietals, fine Zinfandel, other wines
Soon to be a Casemates favorite! Yes, you read that correctly. A new Casemates offer from Vino Noceto will be coming soon to an Internet screen close to you!
After a short talk with Lindy on their Pinot Grigio, we took a walk in the vineyard with owner Jim. Tasting some of their Sangiovese on the way, along with 2 barrel tastings. We then had lunch, with their slushy moscato for some, followed by more yummy wine!
Tasting:
We then went into their tasting room for more wines.
Vino Noceto Casemates Deal:
1 bottle each:
and 2 bottles of the NV Rosso Blend.
So 6 total bottles, or double it for a case.
I’m not sure any of us Tour-ists can wait til then!!!
Terre Rouge & Easton Wines - Boutique, very nice wines from Rhone varietals, Zinfandel
Mea culpa! I can’t find my notes!
But from memory, tastings included:
Sorry!
Scott Harvey Winery – What can I say? – It’s Scott Harvey! Woot and Casemates favorite from all prior Tours – Scot told us he plans a blending experience for InZinerator
Starting us off with his Blanc de blancs sparkling wine, we then went in for blending. We got to taste the 4 available grapes (Zin, Syrah, Barbera, & Forte), and our sheet listed the current blending amounts for an InZin, along with the percentages for converting those into ones for 25ml and 50ml sizes. He then asked us to use the 50ml ones and create a blend. He and his assistant winemaker would judge which one would win a magnum of InZinerator. @mwfielder’s wife was the winner!
We then went into the tasting room for addditional wines. Afterwards, we went back into the barrel room for a fantastic dinner, with many of Scott’s wines. Someone even brought an aged Banyuls (RJQ?)
Afterwards, we all went out to enjoy the beautiful sunset.
Tasting:
We all hated to leave!
@MarkDaSpark That Vino Noceto casemates pack sounds great. Though thought I was going to be able to let my mom know about it for ordering a case for herself until I looked up the wines and saw the normal pricing on the AX-1 as that would likely bring the overall price per bottle to higher than she likes to spend on wine. Maybe I can get her to buy the case for herself and then I just buy the AX-1 from her…that may work.
@MarkDaSpark
Yup, a '49 it was.
@rjquillin
@MarkDaSpark Hi
I’m new here!
I’ve @mwfielder’s wife
Winning blend:
90% Syrah
6% Zin
4% Forte
@MarkDaSpark @mwfielder @texasHaze
texasHaze… is that a sativa blend or an indica blend? J/K!
Congrats on winning the InZin mag from Scott!
@HitAnyKey42
Yes, you may want to do that. Also, it’s a fantastic deal at the CM case price. We will be in for a case, even after the expenses on the Tour.
I think the NV Rosso helps keep the overall costs significantly down.
Why did I leave??? I had such a nice time with you all.
@winefarm
You’re a masochist?
We missed you today!
@winefarm We miss you too!
Thanks for riding the bus with me on Thursday…had a blast!
Phew!
@rjquillin Well said! Thank you so much Ron for all the planning and keeping track of the “herd of cats”!
1994 Wellington Vineyards Zinfandel Casa Santinamaria Vineyards Sonoma Valley from a 3L
And a whole lotta other stuff at the farewell supper.
Someone will come up with the list…
@rjquillin
We brought and opened:
2003 Chateau Musar
2011 Iron Horse Unoaked Chardonnay
2014 Patient Cottat Sauvignon Blanc Le Grand Caillou (Loire) - a fantastic deal at LA Wine Company when they have it
Also tasted:
2014 Twisted Oak Ol’ Chumbucket
2008 WineSmith Pinot Noir
2015 WineSmith St. Laurent
2016 Anne Amie Muller-Thurgau Cuvee A
2015 Block Wines Semillon, Tauro Block, Boushey Vineyard
2014 Heritage Oak Charbono
2013 Charles Smith Viognier, Lawrence Vineyard
Brad also posted a list: https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=39184
Okay, it’s late, and I’m tired. Day 4 report will have to wait til Sunday or so … Lot’s of great wine today and at tonight’s dinner. Great end to a great week.
Thanks to RJQ for coordinating, RPM for his information and knowledge, and to Brad Alderson. Brad for his knowledge and contacts in the Lodi/Amador area, assisting RPM and RJQ with selecting where we would go, and to Brad and Sandi Alderson for tonight’s wonderful dinner and end to a wonderful tour.
And thanks to WineDavid49 for everything he does for us, including schlepping our wines! But more importantly, because he married WineFarm!
@texashaze and I had an absolute blast. It was wonderful meeting you all, even though I felt like I knew you from the boards. Sorry we missed @Ublink , but I hope we can connect soon in the metroplex. We learned a ton, bought a ton, but the best thing we are taking back are the experiences with the new friends we made! From the bottom of our hearts of a couple of newbies, thank you all!
Before we pack up the laptop, Lauren and I wanted to say thanks to everyone for welcoming us and making this a trip to remember. Special thanks of course to @rpm, @rjquillin, and @Winedavid49 for their generosity in the planning, education, logistics, and shipping (!) departments. Great experiences at nearly all the wineries and tasting rooms we went to (with our standouts being Acquiesce [we love Rhones!], Cooper, and of course the seemingly infinite number of wines poured at McCay).
Lots of good wine (we’ve got notes on 160 or so wines we tasted, which doesn’t include the many terrific wines that were available with our dinners!), wonderful company throughout, and an education in what Lodi and Amador produce and can produce that really was eye opening.
Hope to see you all again at some point, and if any of you find yourselves down in the San Diego area, consider this an open invitation to drop by and share a few bites and a few bottles. Cheers!
Well Cesare and I just got home and I am already missing the vines, the views and of course all of you! It was great meeting and getting to know the newbies as well as catching up with those we now call friends going on 10+ years. Thank you for the amazing job by @rpm and @rjquillin with working out all the planning and logistics to ensure we all had a wonderful time (and @joatmon for keeping those initial ‘on the bus’ lists in order). Special thanks to @Winedavid49 and @winefarm, you are far too generous to us and hope getting all those boxes back to Sonoma wasn’t too much of a nightmare. Meeting Brad & Sandi was truly a highlight of the trip for me; hearing stories and personal insights about Lodi from Brad was a real treat.
When these trips come up it is never a question as to if we’ll go, it’s all about when is it?! We know what a special experience it is and how lucky we are to be a part of it and we are extremely grateful. Until next time…
A pleasure to see you all and meet the new Tourists! All are always welcome at our place in West Los Angeles.
Thank you again to @rpm and @rjquillin for all the hard work of organising and keeping us all in check. To Brad and Sandi for hosting our farewell dinner and for setting up much of what we did in Lodi. And of course to @WineDavid49 for everything you do on and off the tour.
I was in Sam’s Club today, and looked at their wines for a lark, due to something we learned from Brad on the tour. That there’s a lot of Lodi wine going to Napa.
It was very interesting to see many that just had California for the appellation, and nothing else … Coppola, Joel Gott, Newman’s Own. Benziger had Sonoma on it!
Napa Wines, Lodi grapes?
@MarkDaSpark
Thanks for the excellent notes - hoping you will get a chance to give Day 4 similar treatment!
@chipgreen
Trying to catch up with everything delayed me. Should get it up today.
@chipgreen
Finally done!
Quick review of charges show top 5 wineries:
@MarkDaSpark Those racks of library wines at Turley were dangerous.
Day 4 report:
Cooper Vineyards Boutique – very nice wines
After a nice introduction by one of the founders daughter (all 5 have positions of responsibility in the winery), Jeri Cooper Swift, we took a tour of the vineyards. Growers since 1979, they eventually started making their own wines (2004?).
They have vines from a “signature clone” of Zinfandel, selected from the vineyard of St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Sonoma County (Rockpile AVA). The grapes from these vines taste like they are from Sonoma grapes, not from Lodi. They are watching to see if they eventually become more Lodi style grapes or continue to stay Sonima style.
They were sold out of their 2015 Barbera, but they called the local Raley’s (grocery store) where they knew some were left. They reserved both remaining cases, which hadn’t been put out, for us. Which we did indeed split all between us (making sure everyone got one if they wanted).
I thought long and hard about joining their wine club. Very nice people and wines. But decided to make sure I visit again, possibly every year or sooner!
Tasting:
Bella Grace Winery Boutique – very nice whites and reds -Rhone; Italian varietals, Zinfandel
Greeted by Steve Havill, son of the founders and their Wine Club (& Marketing?) Manager, we had a taste of their Vermentino before going into their wine cave. Blasting it out took a while! Very nice wines, and Steve bought us 2 of their wines for lunch at our restaurant (they had both Cooper and Bella Grace wines). We also saw him later at our afternoon Wines on 49 walk. They named their winery after his grandmothers (Bella had 12 kids, and Grace had 1), they have very good wines.
After the tasting, we could go in and taste anything in their normal tasting list we missed. While the Mourvedre was one, their Rosé Spumante was another. They had a case offer (30%) off on their Estate Zin (IIRC), and several of us combined to get 15% (1/2 case) or 25% (case) offers.
Tasting:
Wine on 49 – Passport to 12 tasting rooms – Sutter Creek, CA - Charming Gold Rush Town – Tourists are free to pick and choose among a dozen tasting rooms!
Needless to say, several of us were wined out (I know, hard to believe, after 4 days of Swish & Spit, right?
) and decided to skip the Passport, although many did get the Passport.
@Mother and I walked into Scott’s tasting room there (which was also on the Passport, but I just celebrated 10 years in his WC). Sadly, I had to inform Sarine (she was helping Scott last evening, before our dinner there) that our group would not be here all at once, since she had 25 or more glasses out for us. So while sad, she appreciated not having us all at once! After pours of Angel Eis (which I had missed the previous night!), I bought 2, along with other goodies. The @merbill group showed up, and we discussed ice cream emporiums (Sutter Creek has two!).
While meandering the town, who should show up but Scott! Who then proceeded to give Mother & I a quick tour in his car. We then got back in time to enjoy some Ice Cream (huckleberry for me!) while waiting for our bus to take us back to Wine & Roses to freshen up for a fabulous dinner at Brad & Sandi’s.
It actually was nice to be able to choose to walk around Sutter Creek, but be warned, some business close early (3:30, really?)!
So since I didn’t taste any of the other wineries (Scott from night before and Bella Grace that morning) on the Passport, someone else gets the privilege to discuss them.
Wine on 49 wineries:
Whew!
Also, the italicized comments for each winery are from the PDF itinerary RJQ & RPM sent us.
@MarkDaSpark
You da man! Can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed reading your well crafted notes. Probably not as much as you enjoyed sampling those well crafted wines, but still…
Thanks again!
@MarkDaSpark Only hit a couple of these.
I didn’t get a chance to hit anymore, as I was a bit rushed at this point, having misplaced my phone and running back to the places I’d been before looking for it. Luckily, it was left on the bus and I found it when we got back on.
That’s all I got for Wine on 49.
@MarkDaSpark @WkdPanda I agree that Yorba was a standout in Sutter Creek. The owner/winemaker was there when we tasted; she was very knowledgeable, very engaging, and made good wines. Definitely worth a look for those who visit Sutter Creek (as, of course, are the TRs for the wineries we visited at ‘home’).
Thank you guys again for coming out! We really appreciate the opportunity to pour our wines to people who have never had them before! Cheers,
Julia, Suzy, Jim, and I wanted to share a huge, sincere thank you to all of you for your visit. @rjquillin and @rpm did a fantastic job coordinating, and meeting so many amazing wine lovers made us want to do even more Casemates deals! (Note of thanks to @winedavid49 for being so great to work with on this weekend’s deal.)
Your enthusiasm for wine is infectious, and people like you all are the reason that we love working in the wine business. Let me know if any of you are headed back to the Amador area. Our spare bedroom is always available for any of you, and I know that my dad’s cellar is begging to be raided by people who appreciate great wines!
@LindyatNoceto
Hmm, Mediterranean Madness is soon, yessssss?
@MarkDaSpark it’s on August 25th! There will be mystery cases + some great deals on magnums + probably some steep discounts on a couple whites by the case!
I’ll be busy during the day and the night before, but we could have an informal barbecue/dinner and open some great wines on that Saturday night!
@LindyatNoceto @MarkDaSpark
We likely can’t get up there that weekend, but if you go, sparky, you can have a shopping list
@LindyatNoceto @MarkDaSpark ooh I’d be game!!!
And just was the CAGrl when we were up there…?
Was adding a new Sangria recipe to the old thread, and ran across this! Since it was our first stop, thought I’d repost it here.
https://imgur.com/gallery/dRuS6lD
Putting the wines into CellarTracker. Thanks WineDavid! Every bottle unharmed. There’s some good memories in each bottle.
@mwfielder Good work!
You also cleared out the house at Acquiesce!
@klezman @mwfielder Just ordered an additional case; in addition to tour purchases and the (case enhanced) club release.
@rpm Damn, this was a find.
If only their shipping was a bit more reasonable.
$50 for a case to SoCal is a bit steep in my book.
@rjquillin If you get some good pricing I can help with future offerings
@klezman @mwfielder @rjquillin
I recently had another half dozen bottles sent to our place in Florida. Tour wine hadn’t arrived yet, but we got our first club shipment last week. I do wish they hadn’t been out of so many wines, but good for Sue she sells out every year! The shipping cost bites!
@klezman @mwfielder @rpm
She ships using a fulfillment company, Elite Wine Shipping, in Clements.
Sent them a GSO shipper label, on my account for the case.
They really kicked and whined about it…
Estimate is ~$35 all-in with fuel surcharges and other fees. Arriving today.
@klezman @mwfielder @rpm Sue was at the SD Wine & Food event I attended with an office mate. Acquiesce seems a big hit down here.
Post tour and club case purchases/deliveries, additional case purchases #2 and #3 shipping out Monday for a total of 4.5 now. That’s a lot of winter white.
Finally got some time to open my tour boxes. 4 days total, last includes some missed for day 3.
Finally got time to go through them!
Day by day additions